


flower bloom

by mazabm



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Character Growth, Character Study, Gen, M/M, Oikawa is figuring out his emotions, Oikawa is in college, Pre-Slash, ignores manga canon just a wee bit, post year 1, rivalry is not the same as enemy and they know that
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-02
Updated: 2020-04-02
Packaged: 2021-03-01 04:21:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,081
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23449204
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mazabm/pseuds/mazabm
Summary: They were in the gap right now.Or,Maybe they can grow up.
Relationships: Kageyama Tobio & Oikawa Tooru, Kageyama Tobio/Oikawa Tooru
Comments: 8
Kudos: 84





	flower bloom

**Author's Note:**

> started as this prompt at 1 am after I finished season 3 (for the very first time)  
> “You don’t own the person I become,”  
> Or,  
> They grow up  
> but changed into this might use it as a foundation for a few stories I'm thinking of

Tooru goes to college.

Of course, that was a given. Well, it might not have been if they had beaten Karasuno, if they had beaten Shiratorizawa, if they had gone to Nationals and won everything and they recruited him to a professional team. 

But that didn’t happen, so he goes to college. 

It’s what his mom wants, anyway. She remembers all too clearly, him limping around the house, his knee injury too fresh in her mind despite the months that have passed. 

She thinks he’s smart, capable of far more than volleyball, capable of more than a goal of pursuing the top that was ever-changing and end in a second.

His team is good, he picked the school for that reason and they picked him because he makes them better and they dominate. The U-23 coach tells him to stay healthy through the end of the season. The Sunbirds scout comes to one of their games and catches his eye. He’s doing great.

So he doesn’t know why he comes back here.

The Miyagi Spring Qualifiers. 

He goes alone, Hajime’s team keeping him busy, but he texts asking for updates. They will face off against each other in a tournament in a few months, Hajime’s team aiming for the championship as much as his own team was.

Tooru would crush them. Hajime would expect no less.

As it is, now he sits high in the stands, his head ducked, intently watching the match. Seijoh made it to the semi-finals but got knocked out by Karasuno, yesterday. He talked to them afterward, the new first years starring at him with bright eyes, the third years with incredible guilty ones. 

“I trust you.” He said. “To come back harder next year.”

They cheered then, tears pricking at the edge of their eyes. 

They would fight again, Karasuno was their real prefecture rival, and it would be years before that ended. Seijoh would end up going to Nationals one day, of that he was certain. 

Now, as he watched the final match Karasuno verses Shiratorizawa, both a perfect copy of last year’s game but also something different, something stronger. 

He watched Kageyama set to the little red one. _They were going to win. _

It hit him strongly and he blinked. Volleyball was one of those sports where one mistake, one hesitation could cost you everything and Kurasano was always a little reckless, a little sloppy. But time had been good to them and they moved together like a team. But today, Kageyama was flawless. They were not going to lose. 

_They ’re going to win._

He texts Hajime after the 3rd set. 

He answers quickly, the three waiting dots vanishing. 

_Thought we were out._

Kageyama will win, he almost sends back. Hesitates and erases. 

_Kurasono._

He ends up sending.

Hajime doesn’t respond. 

The crows win in the fifth set by five. The last point scored by Kageyama with a jump serve, his form almost impeccable, almost a perfect copy of his. Cheers erupt around him. Champions once more. 

He means to leave before the award ceremony, thinks watching Kageyama get his award will leave the sourest taste in his mouth. It does, but there is something else.

_How do you feel?_

Hajime finally asks. He lets the question hang in their chat. 

It’s only once he’s in the hallway, watching the loud team pass their new goal set, does he realize what it is. 

“Great King!” Hinata is still loud and just as obnoxious as he remembers, only a little taller. His grin is infectious though and Oikawa can’t help the small smile that grows on his face, Kageyama matches him. “Heard you made the U-23 team, congrats!” Kageyama shoves Hinata after the boy says it, a question in his eyes. 

“Nothing for certain yet,” Tooru says, sure his smile doesn’t match his eyes. 

He and Kageyama just stare at each other. The boy will be taller than him soon; he thinks. Already broader. 

Hinata looks back and forth between them before he nods. 

“Meet you at the bus, Kageyama.” He says, ducking under them and continuing on. Kageyama’s eyes widen, realizing that means they will be alone.

The last time they were alone was a year ago, separated by a net. Wait that’s not true.

The last time they were alone, it was the night of his graduation party; he was sitting on the steps, Kageyama beside him both of them looking at the moon, Tooru stopping every mean thing he knew he could say. 

“Next year, Tobio.” He had said instead. 

“Next year.” The boy echoed. 

Karasuno did not win Nationals last year. He had watched the match on his tablet, watched them fall in the semi-finals, knew that their seemingly unlimited stamina would eventually run out. 

Kageyama had changed both in that match and in everything else. The match today only proved that. 

“You did,” Tooru tries to say but he stops. Just say it. “That last serve was nice.” It’s sardonic sounding but something in Kageyama’s face bloomed. “You can improve,” He says quickly, has too. “Come to some of my matches and see how it’s done.” It’s all said too quick, not holding the confidence he knows it should and Kageyama just slowly blinks at him, a slow smirk sliding its way across his face. 

“Only if you come to see me at Nationals.” He says back and Tooru chuckles. If that was how they were going to play it, he could work with that. 

“Fine.” He says. “Don’t disappoint.” 

“I won’t.” It’s firm and far too serious and then he's laughing. Tooru laughs with him, loud and long, people walk past them, quick glances, trying to tell if the boy clutching his stomach and laughing is the same boy that scored the game-winning shot.

Neither is sure what to say after that, they settle into companionable silence. 

Rivalries feel so momentous, so defining, so unchanging, they encompass the whole mind but it would be a while before the two of them were back on the same stage (maybe it would be the Olympics qualifiers, maybe one of them would be the backup setter for the national team in a few years, maybe Kageyama would play for FC Tokyo while Oikawa dominated with the Sunbirds, maybe) but for right now they were living in a gap, a space, where they would both grow and be better. 

_Proud._

He finally texts back to Hajime.

_Way to become a better person_

**Author's Note:**

> Every other story is like give Oikawa a few years and I'm like nope he learns to be better literally the next year, he has no choice.
> 
> Anyway I'm catching up on season 4 and debating whether to catch up with the manga
> 
> come talk to me at my writing blog  
> @[bloodbendingbabe](https://bloodbendingbabe.tumblr.com/) or my new [twitter](https://twitter.com/slim_might)


End file.
